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Story Magazine

Third Quarter 2008

Former Recipient of the Christus Lux Mundi Award Dies

by Kelsey Holm, Communication Specialist

Marjorie Bly, a faithful friend of the seminary and recipient of the 2000 Christus Lux Mundi Award, died April 8, at the age of 88, in Makung, Penghu, Taiwan.

Born into a missionary family on May 30, 1919, in Xinyang City, Henan Province, China, Bly followed in her parents' footsteps, becoming an ELCA missionary herself in 1946. She used her nursing skills to care for those suffering from leprosy, first in China, then in Taiwan. After retiring as an ELCA missionary in 1989 at the age of 70, Bly continued to minister to the people of Makung.

In his nomination of Bly for the Christus Lux Mundi Award, M. Douglas Swenseid wrote, "The people of the islands know that Marjorie Bly is motivated by Christian faith. In addition to the love and care she has shown by her life and work, she passes out Chinese Christian literature and prays with patients. More than 40 of her patients have become Christians during the years she has served on the Penghu Islands."

A memorial service was held on May 3 at St. John's Lutheran Church in Northfield, Minn. A memorial service was held in Makung, Penghu, on the same date. Memorials may be sent to a fund in Bly's name at China Service Ventures, 1407 Cleveland Ave. N., St. Paul, MN, 55108.

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